The End Of The Innocence
by The Unknown Rocker
Summary: What happens when what you wished you'd never see again, happens again?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

The Beginnings

1

A fright in the night

August 3rd, 1984

It was those damn buzzards again. It seems that everyday now they and the crows were after something in the field. Jake was a bright child, only 8, and he knew how to handle the birds. It was a warm day in August, as usual to Jake and his family as any other day that year: chasing a few crows or buzzards away, watering the crops, and finally ending with a sitting on the back porch, drinking iced tea or lemonade. He knew his family's trade very well; he knew just what to do for every situation out in his family's field. That was the last day Jake knew without living in perpetual fear. He saw the birds circling around the center of the field and knew he'd have to act fast in order to stop them from devouring half a barrel's worth of their crop growing out there.

_Oh man_, Jake thought._ There goes a lot of our crop if I don't stop those things_. So he sprinted out from his porch and went into the field. _Wow, that's a lot of buzzards_, he thought as he saw more and more of them coming seemingly out of nowhere. _It must be a deer or something to draw out that many birds_.

As Jake drew near where all the buzzards were circling, he was assaulted by a stench of rotting, death and decay so powerful that he literally staggered from it for a few seconds._ Man, how long has that thing been out there rotting_? He realized that there would be a whole swarm of birds to scare off, so he broke off a dead stalk of grain to use to beat back any stubborn birds.

When he got to where the birds were circling, Jake, as brave a country boy as he was, felt such terror that he later felt was only found in movies. There, right below where the buzzards were grouped tightest was a body. The body was obviously well beyond any recognition: dark, empty sockets where the eyes once were, skin torn off and muscle and bone showing through in some places. _Those eyes, those God awful eyes_, he thought. And then, like in the greatest and scariest of horror movies, the body started to move. Somehow or another, it got up onto its feet. "Remember this boy," the body said in a ragged southern accent. "Remember me, 'cause you're next." And then, as if from a thousand miles away, Jake heard himself screaming…

And he woke up in his New York apartment, still screaming. After he had calmed down, his heart still thundering in his chest, he looked out the window, towards the stunning New York skyline, a dark silhouette against the bleak December sky. He looked at his clock, a fluorescent green readout, stating it was only four in the morning. _God Almighty_, he thought after a few minutes, _I haven't had a scare like that ever_. He lie back down onto his bed, trying to get rid of the haunting images of the body from his mind. He could not go back to sleep. For a few nights afterwards, he could not rest at night; he would constantly tell himself it was only a dream, a bad dream. Or so he thought.


	2. Chapter 2

**2**

A wake up call

May 29th, 2007

His car refused to start. Jake tried everything he could to get it running. _God, if I don't get this thing going, I'm going to be late for work, _he thought. He tried the ignition again and heard a horrible clanking sound from the engine. As he walked around his car to see what was wrong, the car started, even though the keys were in his hand, and he was at least 10 feet away from it. Jake checked the motor anyways, just in case it wouldn't break down on the highway today. When he opened the hood, the oil gauge broke. "Son of a bi--", the container broke and spewed him with oil, from head to toe. He jumped back, and hit his head on the hood. He fell to the ground, cussing like a sailor. In the distance, a raspy laugh filled the air.

"Screw it! I'll just call in sick today," he said to no one in particular. He ran back inside, furious at his run of bad luck recently. Monday he had the nightmare, Tuesday he had a stomach virus that lasted till Friday, and today, Saturday, his car had broken down in his garage and covered him with oil. He thought his luck couldn't get any worse. Until the phone rang, that is. Jake was just finishing washing up when the annoying blare of the phone started.

"What now?" he said the receiver, still snugly on the set. He picked it up, extremely ticked off. "Hello?" He heard a sigh of relief from the other end. "Hello? Who is this?" he asked. The person on the line took a few seconds before replying.

"Yes, I'm calling to see if I may speak with a man who once went by the name 'Jacob' please?"

Jake stood there in awed silence; no one had called him that since childhood, and only one person had even back then. "Tara? Is that really you?" he asked into the receiver, almost a whisper.

There was that familiar sigh again. "Yes Jake, it's me. Been a long time since we last spoke, isn't it?"

Jake stood there, mouth agape, startled by his old childhood friend, and crush, calling him after all these years. "My God, it's been ten years! How are you doing Tara? Still in Savannah? How'd you get my number?"

"All in due time Jake, but please, let me speak before I answer all these questions. Look, something's happened back home. I'll have to make this quick. Back home, my God, it's started again. You can hear the voice again, can't you?"


	3. Chapter 3

3

How long until?

Jake stood there, silence looming throughout the house. _Is it happening all over again? Dear God, not again_, he thought. The phone dropped out of his hand.

"Hello? Jake? Are you still there?" came out from the phone on the floor. He scrambled to pick it up before Tara hung up. He heard the same exasperated sigh come from the phone.

"Yes, I'm still here, dropped the phone on accident, sorry Tara," he said hastily into the receiver. "So, yeah, you can hear the voice too? I'm telling you, I thought I was just going insane, but you're for real? You can hear it now too?" Jake started to try and get all the info he could, all the while still keeping up with what he could glean about the small town life.

Apparently Savannah had not changed much. Some new banks had sprung up, the old plantation houses were worth even more money now, with restorations of course. And there was the one fact that neither Jake nor Tara could deny; it had started again. All the children they had grown up with had become adults, and had started families of their own. Only Jake was the one who had moved away, everyone else was still there.

Tara told him everything she could about what was happening. "Jake, if you really want to find out more, you're going to have to come back home, if only for a little while." Jake knew this was coming. He knew that one way or another he would have to come back to Savannah. "Ok, how long until another bus is scheduled to go down there? I need to get a ride down there somehow," he said with a nervous chuckle.

"There's a Greyhound scheduled to leave tomorrow morning at 8:00 A.M., do you think you could catch that bus?" "Yeah, I can get that one, I'll have to start packing right after we're done talking though Tara, is that ok?" "I guess so, just please, be careful Jake, whatever you do, be careful. I'll send my sister Sarah to meet you tomorrow at the bus stop, she'll be happy to do that so we can all get together tomorrow." They both hung up the phone. Jake wondered how this would all work out. _This is gonna be a long week_, he thought.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 2**

Reunion

1

Jake, Part 1

May 30th, 2007. 8:00 A.M.

_This ride has just started and I'm already dreading it_, Jake thought glumly. He had gotten the call from Tara not twelve hours ago, and he had lived up to his word and started packing immediately after their call ended. He got out his suitcase, stuffed it with almost two weeks worth of clothes, and went online to book his ticket as soon as he could.

Then here he was, the very next morning on a nonstop bus to Savannah, sitting next to the worst choice of a passenger beside him. _It's almost like that movie Planes, Tranes, and Automobiles for me. Just my luck_, he said to himself. The guy he was sitting next to was in fact a very good copy of the man from the movie. He started talking nonstop to Jake, and very soon afterwards, fell asleep, snoring. Very loudly. _God, if you're listening up there, please don't make this trip as hard as it's already started out to be, please,_ he prayed silently.

He put his iPod on, and listened to his music, trying to sleep

The alarm clock would not stop its constant ringing. Tara moaned until he got to where he was hoping to be very soon.


	5. Chapter 5

2

Tara

10:00 A.M. groggily, and slowly got out of bed. She flipped on the television, and turned off her clock. _Joy and euphoria, ABC News is already covering gas prices first thing in the morning now, how fun_, she thought cynically.

Ever since her phone call to Jake, Tara had been arranging everything for his arrival back to his old him. She had been making calls to her sister Sarah about meeting him at the bus stop when he got there that night. She had even booked a booth for 3 hours worth of time at the local Waffle House so she, her sister, and Jake could sit and have dinner; regardless of what time he arrived back in town. The only thing she hadn't been able to get right was the weather.

Tara had been hoping for it to be sunny, a few clouds thrown in, just the way Jake like it as a child. She had done everything she could do to make everything the way he liked, so he would stay around longer than just the couple weeks he had already planned. All that seemed wrong was the weather. When the weather did come on, she was sadly disappointed. _Just my luck, when I finally get everything set up, the damn weather has to go and be the complete opposite of what I need it to be_, she thought angrily. A small storm front was on the move towards Savannah, and would be there around midnight, near the same time Jake would be setting out for a hotel he had probably planned on living in for the few weeks he'd planned on staying here.

So of course, she would invite him over. It was only the polite thing to do, instead at making him stay at a Days Inn of some place like that, especially when it wouldn't be safe for him driving out at night on the slippery roads in the pouring rain.

Tara stood up off her bed and made her way to her bathroom. When she went to reach for the doorknob, it fell out of the door and rolled around on the floor. "Oh come on!" she said to the air. Angrily, she got in the shower, the door still open, knob lying on the floor. _I just hope things'll be better when Jake gets here_, she thought to herself.


	6. Chapter 6

3

Sarah

1:00 P.M.

"You want me to do what?" she said to her sister over the phone. Sarah had been talking to her sister for about an hour now, trying to get everything set up for when Jake got back in town.

"You heard me right Sarah, I want you to be able to greet him when he gets off that bus. And I want for you two to get over to the diner as soon as possible after he gets off too. Is that ok?"

"Yes, I'll do it. You know Tara, I'm really looking forward to seeing him again. It's been so long, you know?"

"Yeah, been like ten years now. He's just as anxious as we are to meet up."

"Awesome. I'll do it. I can't wait to see him again. I'm going to go get things ready here. You two will both be staying over at my house. I don't want to hear any arguments, you two will do it. I'll call you back later, see you in a few hours Tara."

The hung up, and Sarah was literally bouncing, for she was so happy. Tara had left instructions for her to meet up with Jake, take him to the diner, and to bring him to her house. The only part she had disagreed with at all was the part about her sister's house. It wasn't as big as her own was, so she felt she would let them both stay over at her place for a while.

_I can't wait! This week is going to turn out great_, she thought happily in her head, all the while nervous and anxious about Jake coming home.


	7. Chapter 7

4

Jake, Part 2

6:00 P.M.

_I can't believe I'm almost home, only a couple hours away_, thought Jake as the bus rolled along the hills of southern Tennessee. Outside the window, he saw a landscape he had only seen twice before. One time was his first drive up to New York. The second time was occurring now. The gently rolling hills had comforted Jake very well, and had even calmed him so that he did not need to take a Valium to rest.

Suddenly Jake felt a vibration against his pants pocket that made him jump out of his reverie. It turned out to be nothing in particular, just his cell phone ringing. "Hello?" he asked into it, yawning slightly. He had seen just before he had answered that it was Tara's number, so he figured the call must have to be about when he arrived in Savannah less than five hours.

"Hey Jake, just calling to check up on you, I'm hoping that the bus ride isn't driving you crazy. Anyways, I wanted to ask you something. You know that Sarah will be picking you up tomorrow; well, I'm just wondering if it's ok with you that she take you to a small diner, a Waffle House, or something of that nature when you arrive, so we can all meet up. Is that all ok with you?"

Jake smiled warily; he knew that Tara and Sarah would want to try and make him feel as welcome as they could. "Sure, that sounds great with me Tara. So let me guess, Sarah still as bouncy as ever?" he said with a laugh. Sarah had always been the happy and energetic one out of the group.

"Yeah, she's even more so right now because she knows you're going to be back home soon. She's so excited, I just can't see why," Tara replied with her usual sarcastic humor. "Anyways, just calling to check up on you, I'll let Sarah know that she can bring you to the diner, and I'll meet you two up there."

"Thanks Tara, for everything. I'll see you in a couple hours, I'm looking forward to being back home."

Jake sighed in relief. _Almost there. Almost home._


	8. Chapter 8

5

Welcoming Committee

10:30 P.M.

"Attention all passengers," the intercom said in a tinny voice, "we have arrived at our last stop, Savannah, Georgia. Please grab all of your luggage and vacate the bus. Thank you for riding Greyhound Bus Lines."

Jake yawned. _Thank you Lord for the safe trip. Thank you for letting me home_, he said silently. He grabbed his small suitcase from the overhead rack, and headed towards the door. After everyone else had gotten off, and Jake was about to, he felt someone put their hand on his shoulder, holding him back. "What do you want," was all Jake could get out before he turned around and saw who was restraining him. He could not scream; his lungs had locked up on him. What he saw scared him to the bone.

It was the body, dressed up in a bus driver's uniform, smiling at Jake with a horrible grin that bespoke only menace. Jake fell backwards, off of the bus, and into the street. The air finally came back to his lungs in a great rushing whoop, and he screamed as if he was in terrible pain. His vision blurred, and when it came into focus, he saw the bus driver, thankfully human, looking at him as if he's just seen a ghost. "Are you ok sonny?" the driver asked carefully. "You're going to want to get up out of the street before a car comes at you."

The driver couldn't be any more right. The second he had finished saying that, a car came careening out of nowhere towards them, speeding far above the speed limit. Jake could only stare into the headlights like a frightened deer, just what he felt like he was at that moment. A split second before it was too late for him, instinct took over, and he dove out of the way, the car brushing past less than an inch from his feet.

"Sir! Sir? Are you ok?" he heard from a distance. Before he fell to the concrete after his dive, Jake saw a woman rushing towards him. _Why is this so familiar? _he thought, right as he started to black out.


	9. Chapter 9

7

Meeting up with old friends

10:35. May 31st, 2007

Jake regained consciousness not long after he hit the ground. One, maybe two minutes of darkness had passed, but that was all. Around him, a small crowd had gathered. He lifted his head, and saw that it wasn't a small crowd; it was just the bus driver and some woman. The bus driver looked scared for his life. It was the woman who put her hand out to help Jake up.

"Thanks lady, I needed that," he said politely, "but I really need to go see someone. See, I'm supposed to be meeting up with an old friend right about now, so I really have to go. Thank you again for the help though."

"Wait, stop! Um, just wondering, and please don't think I'm crazy if I'm wrong, but is your name Jake Mathews?" she asked carefully. She saw some shock on his face, obviously from guessing his name correctly.

"Yes, that's my name. How'd you guess that? Wait a second…" he searched her face, trying to see if he could tell who it was. "What a surprise! It's great to see you again Sarah! Sorry we had to meet under these circumstances," he told her in a happy fervor. Sarah beamed at him; glad to know he had remembered her well enough.

_Amazing how I started my little homecoming trip_, thought Jake wryly as he started to walk down the sidewalk with Sarah. He made small talk with her for the time being, waiting until he got to the diner and meet up with Tara as well before starting to get down to the real business. _Nearly getting run over by a car, having some weird flashback thing, and seeing that body_, he shivered. _This isn't starting out as a great trip_, he thought.

"So tell me, was your trip safe Jake?" asked Sarah as they continued on their way to dinner. "I really hope it was, that runaway car wasn't exactly the greatest welcome wagon," she said with a nervous laugh. Jake, no matter how shocked he was at the car, laughed. He felt like he needed something to wake him up after the long bus ride he had endured.

After thinking things through, everything was actually alright. _The car missed me, the bus didn't have a wreck, and I was able to meet up with Sarah_, he thought as the walked down the sidewalk towards the diner. "So tell me Sarah, how is everything? I've been thinking about how long it's been since I was last here," he said cheerfully. Jake was planning on only do the niceties for now, waiting until meeting up with Tara to ask what was really bothering him.

"Well Jake, if you want the truth, things haven't been so calm down here. That car that nearly ran you over? Yeah, that's about normal here now. I don't know if it's Yankee's moving down here, but things are a lot different. I'm not sure about it all myself Jake, but I'm scared slightly. No one can trust almost anyone anymore, it's sad really. I mean, things are just weird now," Sarah said nervously. Telling such a soliloquy would require much more information than she knew at the moment; such information she would learn soon. "So many of the people we grew up with died at early ages, and it really gets strange on how people act now too. It's almost as if people are afraid to speak anymore. Like, say I asked someone 'How's it going?', they'd look at me scared, then murmur something about being to busy, then hurry off in a different direction. Maybe when we see Tara we'll figure out something."

They continued along the path, a few minutes away from the diner.


	10. Chapter 10

9.

Revival

Lightning flashed outside. Wind gusted hard enough to shake the glass in the windowpanes.

The ground shook as if the fury of God Himself was beating down upon the small diner. Jake looked around the small room with people cowering under their respective booths. The wind was blowing like a monsoon was upon them, but Jake, in light of his recent events, stood triumphantly in the middle of the diner, shouting to the silent room.

"I'm here! You think a small storm is going to scare me off! Well you're wrong!"

The diner door burst inward suddenly, shattering the hinges it once rested on. The door flew through the restaurant, causing Jake to dive out of the way. From the floor, he yelled once more, "I'm here and you can't stop that!" Lightning struck the building then, plunging all the customers into darkness. Another bolt, this time right outside the diner, caused all the glass in the windows to shatter, blowing like miniature daggers towards everyone who sat crouching in fear inside. Multiple pieces strum Jake in the chest, some hard enough to puncture though his clothing and make him bleed. He lifted his head even higher, and bellowed to the raging storm outside, "You can't beat me! You can't stop me anymore!"

Out of nowhere, the winds began gusting 30 mph faster than were already going. One car flipped, then another. Tree branches were falling down every second. Then came a particularly powerful gust. It caught a car in its path, and blew it straight into the air, and directly in Jake's direction. Sarah screamed; Jake calmly strode outside, into the fury of the maelstrom. His smiled maliciously as the car seemed to careen straight at him in midair.

"Come on, let's dance," he spat angrily. Out of nowhere, malignant laughter was heard. It started softly, a bare audible whisper. But soon, it gathered in strength, as if the storm itself was laughing. The ground trembled and split in many places. Soon, all of Main Street had split in two, the bare ground beneath the asphalt exposed. Out from the newly formed crevice climbed the body. This time, however, he was not decrepit, but rather dressed in the fine clothing he had worn upon his death, his skin and muscles were brought back to their wholeness, while he had also gained back some of his youth. He stepped from the large crack in the ground, laughing even more menacingly while Jake simply stood there, poised, ready to run or fight.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk boy, didn't I tell you? I remember I told you son, told you that you were next. Now why did you have to go and make me do this?" His voice was rich and lilting, with a strong Charleston accent. "This town, this world, it's not your's to take advantage of anymore boy. Now, get on back in that diner, get your girlfriend, and stay the hell out of my way. This is my world now, and you ain't stopping me."

Jake barked out a harsh laugh. He was hardly himself anymore. "Before I go, allow me to ask you this much," he said slyly. "What's your name?"

The body laughed again. "Don't you recognize me son? Don't you see your own reflection?"

It was a devastating blow to Jake. The man who had stood before him shimmer as if seen through water, and then his image was clear again. It _was_ Jake; it was his own image, in older, fancier clothing. "No sir," Jake said courageously, "you're not me. I've seen the movies, I've read the books. I've done my research. You're a Mr. J. D. Thompson. An old resident of Savannah when Georgia was still a colony. You lived in Charleston, South Carolina for many years before you came down here. You took your rice plantation, along with all your slaves you could carry, and moved to Savannah. But the locals here didn't like you too much, did they?"

Jake's voice was changing. It was becoming deeper, softer, yet more intense. It was not a voice he had ever had, nor would ever be his. The man talking now was no longer Jake.

"Oh no, the locals didn't like you a bit dear Thompson. Neither did your slaves. You were a cruel man, cold to anyone who even approached you. You beat your slaves for laughter; they didn't like that a bit. They rose up against you one day, didn't' they? So let's take a stroll down memory lane, shall we?"

Jake started walking down the sidewalk, maintaining eye contact with Mr. Thompson. He beckoned for Thompson to follow, who was now truly mesmerized and scared. This was not at all how he was planning on making his grand reappearance into this world.


End file.
